Best Dog Food For Picky Eaters – Let’s Feed the Fussy!

Many owners will never know the trials and tribulations of caring for a dog that's a picky eater. In fact, they might have the polar opposite problem – a dog that inhales their food before it touches the ground!

Fussy eaters can be frustrating, however, but thankfully there are feeding methods and certain foods that are known to encourage even the pickiest of pups.

The Top 6 Dog Foods for Picky Eaters

Natural Balance is one of the most popular and highest quality dog food manufacturers operating right now. This particular formula is designed for dogs with dietary sensitivities and allergies, so it has minimal ingredients. It’s also nutritionally complete and full of natural flavors.

We’ve got yet another manufacturing heavyweight here with Nature’s Variety, which are known for their high quality, delicious and nutritious dog food. The food is actually freeze-dried, which keeps it moist and the flavors fresh – picky eaters won’t be able to resist.

Pros

Composed of natural ingredients that are close to what dogs would eat in nature

The Honest Kitchen is a relatively new and revolutionary dog food (and human food!) manufacturer that create products just as nutritious and delicious as the other foods on this list but in a dehydrated form. This means you need to add a little water to the formula before you feed it to your pup.

Pros

The dehydrated formula is budget friendly: 10lbs of the food makes a total 40lbs

100% human grade – just like those table scraps!

Organic, all-natural, nutritionally complete and balanced (meets the standards of the AAFCO)

Blue Buffalo is another popular dog food brand with many owners, with this canned wet formula one of their favorites for picky eaters. Not only is it moist and delicious, it’s also super nutritious and positioned to support a healthy lifestyle.

Pros

Contains only the finest natural ingredients, formulated with high-protein and complex-carbohydrate products

What Makes a Dog a Picky Eater?

Often, the reason behind a dog’s faddiness when it comes to food can simply be boiled down to the obvious – personal preferences. Just like we humans can prefer certain food over others, so can your dog.

Some dogs will prefer certain brands, or will choose wet food over dry, or will only like meaty flavors. When they don’t get their favorite foods, they might refuse to eat what’s in front of them in a bid to show their owners what foods they do like.

Equally as important: some dog food just simply isn’t that tasty. Some of the cheaper, low-quality commercial foods might be stuffed with tasteless fillers, be too dry, or be high in hard-to-digest grains. If you’ve got a dog with a more discerning palate, they could well turn their noses up at low-quality kibble.

More often than not, however, picky eating in dogs is actually the result of human behavior, rather than the dog’s. If your dog enjoys plenty of delicious table scraps, their daily kibble is going to seem less and less appetizing as an alternative. The more human food they eat, the less satisfied they are likely to be with their dog food. In effect, you can spoil your dog through feeding them your meal under the table!

Can Picky Eating Indicate a Medical Problem?

If your dog has always been a fussy eater yet otherwise shows all the signs of being healthy – a normal weight and shiny coat – then it would seem that they are simply just that: a picky eater.

However, if your dog suddenly starts eating less or starts turning their nose up at their regular kibble, it could be a symptom of an underlying medical condition. Conditions like allergies, dental diseases, and cancer can all diminish appetite in dogs.

If you notice a sudden shift in your dog’s eating habits, or if they unaccountably drop a few pounds in a short space of time, make sure to take them to the vet at your earliest opportunity for a check-up.

Things to Try to Encourage Less Picky Eating

If you're feeding your dog a lot of table scraps, stop. Instead, stick to a consistent feeding schedule so your dog can predict exactly when and what they’ll be eating come feeding time. It’s also a good idea to put a limit on how long you leave their bowl out – say, 30 minutes – so that they’ll get used to the idea of having to eat at a set time every day, instead of having the luxury of eating dinner whenever they feel like it.

Another good way to kickstart your pup out of picky eating is to start treating them to some variety. Again, just like humans, dogs benefit from eating different sources of nutrition and trying out different flavor profiles on their palate.

Start small with diet changes: your first act could be to simply change up the main ingredients of their regular food. If they usually are given chicken and vegetables of a certain formulation, try them out with beef and liver, for instance, from the same brand.

You can, of course, also change up the brands and formula that you feed your dog, and even alternate between wet and dry food. The key here is to make the change gradually, slowly decreasing one food source while upping the new food in parallel. It should take about a week to completely change from one food to another.

If you change your dog’s diet drastically with no warning, you should prepare yourself for some digestive problems, including diarrhea.

Of course, one of the best and easiest ways to encourage your dog to eat is to buy food specially designed for picky eaters…

What are Good Dog Foods for Picky Eaters?

Regardless of how picky your dog is, the two major principles of what makes food delicious are flavor and taste. This holds true in the human world as well!

There are certain flavors and tastes that are particularly irresistible to dogs, and formulas suited to fussy eaters will contain at least a few of these.

Firstly, the best dog food for picky eaters will always be formulas made with high-quality ingredients. We all know that cheap food stuffed with fillers and artificial preservatives taste bland at best. On the other hand, responsibly sourced, nutritionally complete and balanced food promises to be both more delicious and more nutritious.

Moist foods are also appealing to the canine palate. This doesn’t necessarily mean that wet, canned food is the way forward, but it's worth avoiding food that is too dry. Moist kibble will taste and feel more like real meat, whereas dry food will taste like cardboard – yuck! Look out for wet, canned and freeze-dried formulas for the moistest dog food.

Dogs love the taste of meat, so it’s well worth choosing a meaty formula for your picky pup. Thankfully, there are a huge number of varieties of flavor on offer: anything from chicken, beef, and turkey to more exotic foods like venison, wild-caught salmon and buffalo.

The best dog foods for fussy eaters will also be either free from or low on corn and other grains. They might bulk out a meal for your dog but they can cause digestive problems and put your dog off eating in the future. Grains are actually in the top 5 foods that cause pet allergies, so it is a widespread issue.

What’s the Difference Between Food for Picky and Regular Eaters?

In truth, there isn’t a whole amount of difference between the best foods for picky and regular eaters. The best dog food is simply the best dog food, period.

Having a picky eater dog makes us more aware of the importance of taste, flavor, and nutrition in our dog’s diet, so we’re more likely to research and invest in the best dog foods. When we have a dog that gulps down anything put in front of them, we’re less likely to invest the time and money in finding the best food.

But really, all dogs will benefit from our favorite foods for picky eaters – what dog can resist meaty, moist and delicious when it’s laid out in front of them? The best dog food can even rival your much-treasured table scraps when it comes to flavor!

Should I Make My Own Kibble?

Some owners with picky dogs are tempted to try out making their own dog food at home in a bid to try and convince their pup to start eating.

While it’s likely that even the pickiest of dogs will be tempted by fresh, moist and succulent homemade kibble, there’s an important argument to be had that you could actually be doing your dog more harm than good by feeding them it.

Homemade dog food certainly delivers on the taste and flavor front but – unless you’ve been working with a canine nutritionist – it’s unlikely that it will provide the complete nutrition your dog needs to stay at optimal health.

So, unless you’re an expert (or working with one), we’d recommend you save the time and simply invest in the best commercial dog foods for picky eaters instead.

Conclusion

No matter how picky your dog is when it comes to food, they’ll be unlikely to resist the nutritious and delicious formulations above.

Remember to introduce some variety into your dog’s diet – just like us, dogs like to mix things up. And cut down on those table scraps too in order to keep your dog excited about the food in front of them.

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One comment

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